Never Swim Alone
by jackandjill2
Summary: A continuation on my "Flashback Series". The boys return from a battle, but with terrible news. Includes all the characters you know and love! Rated T for some scary themes.
1. Chapter 1

Hi everyone! I'm back from the dead!

Okay, just so you know - if you haven't read my "Flashback" Series, you won't recognize my characters, but I've laid them out pretty well so you'll still get it. Also, a warning - this story is pretty sad, but I worked really hard on it and it's very special to me - you'll see why later on, in the next chapters.

Enjoy!

* * *

You could say that the current state of the HQ was… atypical. There were many small details you could see had changed: the unusual cleanliness, including _all _weapons put away or put in a high, out-of-reach spot; the fridge (now adorned with one or two colorful, childish crayon drawings), while it had it usual fish storage, fruit juices, and sushi ingredients, was now stocked with penguin baby-food; and the large framed picture of all the HQ's inhabitants (all seven of them), hand-drawn in a delicate, masterful hand - or rather, flipper. But the largest abnormality of all was the population. At the moment, it was entirely female.

Skipper, Kowalski, Rico, and Private had been called to duty nearly four weeks ago and had left to go to battle somewhere in Central America (Skipper had briefly mentioned a penguin alliance with the scarlet macaws, who had declared war on someone, but wouldn't say anything else) leaving Kowalski's wife Katrina, his one-year-old daughter Rachel, and Private's wife Sarah alone to run the HQ.

It was fun for the first week and a half… Sarah, Katrina, and Marlene had a great time being girls while the guys were gone and Rachel didn't understand what they were talking about… but now, Sarah and Katrina were definitely starting to worry for their beloved boys. Not only were they worried, but they found that the HQ was pretty lonely without Private on the couch, Rico with his doll, Skipper arguing with Julien, and Kowalski in his freshly baby-proofed lab.

Katrina was currently sitting by the phone Kowalski had installed (a small cell phone was now one of Rico's must-haves during missions). She was remembering a particularly heartbreaking moment that had occurred yesterday… she'd found Rachel in her father's lab, calling out, "Daddy? Daddy?" Katrina had tried to explain that Daddy wasn't here right now, but of course Rachel didn't really understand and had finally settled for a hug from Mama instead. It had brought a tear to Katrina's eye, and her longing for Kowalski heightened all that much more.

Katrina nearly jumped out of her feathers as the phone rang out of the blue. As Katrina rushed to pick it up, Sarah threw aside her famous sketchbook and pencils and sprinted to Katrina's side.

"Where are they?" she hissed.

"Shh!" Katrina said, holding up a flipper "Skipper? Is that - _Kowalski! _Oh, thank God! What's going on…? Okay… hold on-" she covered the mouthpiece and quietly related what Kowalski said to Sarah, "they're on their way back - but only staying a while, then have to go-" she realized what she was saying. "Go back? Whatever for?" she was silent as she listened, then said, "What? Oh my God… that, that's terrible! Is he okay?"

"Who?" Sarah hissed.

"Wait a second…" Katrina said quietly to her, then asked Kowalski, "But then, why are you even coming back? Shouldn't you stay…? Oh. _Oh._ How bad is he…? Yikes…! Oh, Kowalski, please be careful… what? Okay, I'll give it to her." She held the phone to Sarah. "Skipper wants to talk to you." Katrina was already in tears.

With a terrible feeling of foreboding, Sarah took the phone and held it to her ear. "Dad?"

"Sarah," Skipper's tired voice scratched through the receiver. "I've, um, got some bad news-"

"What's wrong with him?" Sarah asked quietly.

"Yeah, um… Private…" he finally spat it out. "Private's been captured."

Sarah blinked and remained silent for a few seconds. "Captured?"

"Yeah. That's why we're coming back here, to find him. We've got to go home first, though, Rico's been hurt pretty bad and he needs medical attention ASAP…" he paused, not liking the silence on the other end. "Sarah? You okay?"

"No…" she said softly.

"If it helps at all, he's not physically injured… you know, as far as we know." Skipper said.

Sarah still didn't say anything, but after a minute or so, she lost control. She dropped the phone and fell on her butt, letting out a gasp.

Katrina picked up the phone, said to Skipper, "Talk to you later," and quickly sat beside Sarah's shaking figure, hugging her. "It's gonna be okay," she said soothingly, "He's alive-"

"Says who?" Sarah blurted. "Remember what Dad said to Manfredi when he was captured in Manila? Who knows what they could be doing to him!" She gasped for air, then started muttering, "Not now… of all times, it had to be now… this can't happen again, it just can't!"

"What? What's wrong?" Katrina said, worried.

Sarah opened her beak to explain, then Rachel interrupted, "Ah-Sarah?" _Aunt Sarah?_

Katrina started to tell her to go play somewhere else, but Sarah stopped her, pulling herself together a bit. "Yes, Rachel?" she said in a whisper so her voice couldn't break.

Little Rachel smiled, waddled towards her favorite aunt and gave her a big hug. After all, Rachel knew that when ever she was sad, her mommy or daddy would give her a hug and then everything would be all better.

Sarah knew too well that a child's hug, no matter how beautiful it was, wouldn't bring Private back to her… nevertheless, she humored the little girl and hugged her back. Rachel stayed there for a second or two, then pulled away, a huge, proud smile across her face.

"All bedder!" she declared, waving her flippers in the air. Sarah, for Rachel's sake, weakly smiled back and said, "Not exactly, Rachel… but thank you."

Even as Rachel, still smiling, turned and went to play with her toys (mainly a puzzle of the periodic table of elements - Kowalski's gift - and a toy piano - Katrina's) Sarah knew she would be lying if she'd said she was 'all bedder.' No… nothing could help the way she felt now…

_Scared_

_Alone_

…

_weak_

:(

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	2. Chapter 2

Hey peoples! I thought I'd get the next part up early - I'll be having a really busy week, so the next one might take a while.

Enjoy!

* * *

The next few days until Skipper, Kowalski, and Rico came back were like torture - to Sarah, at least. She needed to know where Private was, if he was okay… and there was no way to get this information until Skipper was back. She didn't dare call again - she didn't know what means of transportation they had and couldn't risk their cell phone going off, or if the vibrations would hurt Rico in his condition, whatever it was.

Katrina, keep in mind, had never known Sarah before she'd met Private and fallen in love with him, so she was shocked at what was happening to her sister-in-law. Sarah wouldn't eat (until Katrina went all motherly-wacko and made her eat), she didn't talk, and even ignored Rachel - she just sat by alone by her notepad and pencils, uninspired and unmotivated, lost in her own thoughts. Marlene assured her that this wasn't new - unusual nowadays, but not new. Katrina still worried… being blind, all her other senses were much sharper and she was able to tell something much different was up with Sarah, but she wouldn't say what it was yet, she said she wanted to tell Skipper first.

Four days after the call, the girls heard a knocking at the fishbowl. Sarah finally got up and looked through the periscope in the HQ (since Katrina obviously wouldn't be able to tell).

"They're back." she said, relieved. She tried to see Rico, but he was hiding behind Skipper. Katrina gasped and took Rachel in her arms, then bounded up the ladder. Sarah followed.

Katrina moved aside the bowl and climbed through. She quickly put Rachel down on the concrete and held out her arms. "Kowalski?" She said excitedly. She felt a familiar flipper take her own and pull her close.

"Katrina…!" Kowalski's unmistakable voice breathed out. They embraced, and Katrina (for the moment anyway) didn't care how dirty and sweaty he smelled or felt. He took her face in his flippers to kiss her, but their moment was soon interrupted.

"Daddy!" Rachel's voice called out ecstatically. She squeezed herself in between her parents and laughed out loud as Kowalski picked her up and spun her around.

"How's my little Sixty-_C-O _doing?" Sixty-C-O was Kowalski's nerdy nickname for Rachel - it was a common isotope of the element cobalt, which made a blue dye the same color as Rachel's - and his own - eyes.

Meanwhile, Sarah's heart silently broke apart, seeing the Kowalski family reunion and not having Private here to embrace her as well. She looked away, blinking away tears. She felt a flipper on her shoulder, and looked up, smiling weakly at who it was.

"Hey, Dad." she said softly.

"You doing okay?" Skipper asked carefully.

Sarah grimaced. "Not really, no. Any news about Private?"

"No, but before I tell you anything else, I need you help me get Rico into the HQ to get his bandage changed, it's filthy."

Sarah looked over at her psychotic brother-in-law and gasped. "Rico!"

He was leaning on a crudely-made wooden crutch and there was a bandage on his right flipper, but that obviously wasn't the bandage Skipper was worried about. His left foot was completely gone (hence the crutch), and in its place was a thick wad of gauze stained with dried blood and mud - it was hard to tell which was which.

"Help me get him in the HQ," Skipper repeated, supporting Rico as the poor guy dropped his crutch. Sarah held him up on his good side and let him hug her around the waist as she and Skipper lowered him down the ladder.

"Why isn't Kowalski helping?" She said after Rico was safely on his… foot. She pulled out a chair as Skipper led Rico across the HQ.

"He wanted to make sure Rachel wouldn't see, and he's also keeping guard so we have some privacy."

Rico sat down on the chair. He smiled at Sarah and said gratefully, "Thanks."

"No prob." she said. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Get the first aid kit for me." Skipper said, undoing the knot of gauze.

Sarah did so, and when she brought it to Skipper her stomach lurched, making her look away. The foot itself was completely gone, but his stumpy penguin leg remained quite intact, exposing bone and muscle for all to see.

"What happened?" Sarah asked in a serious tone. Skipper caught what she meant, and sighed.

"I'll tell you, but I gotta help Rico before he gets gangrene or something, OK?" he said. Sarah nodded. Skipper sighed and he began working - he knew enough about what he was doing with Rico to talk as he worked.

"We didn't get to the battle on time - it was already in full-force by the time we showed up. It's next to impossible to describe the scene - suffice it to say that the penguins and macaws versus the herons and seagulls had by now resorted to wing-to-wing combat. The worst part was that the herons had somehow gotten their wings on some guns and were shooting at their enemies, but thank God they were apparently running out of ammo by the time we arrived. Rico and I went in first - Major allowed that Kowalski and Private hang back until the ammo was gone until they went in, since they had mates and a kid to come home to."

"So do you." Sarah said defensively.

"You're grown up now, Sarah. You don't need me like Rachel needs Kowalski. Anyway, the bad part was, since they went in later, we all got separated - and I lost track of Rico after a while. In fact, until I saw him after the battle, I was sure he was dead."

Rico, it is worth mentioning, heard none of this: Skipper was disinfecting the wound and he was trying his best not to scream. Sarah had noticed this a while ago and had brought him the only thing that might make him feel better - Ms. Perky.

Skipper continued. "The battle lasted another couple of days, until General called for a retreat - there were simply too many of them, we were getting slaughtered… literally… I saw Kowalski briefly during that time, but not Rico or Private. After the battle, we met up - Rico, Kowalski, and I - and after checking out with Major we returned to the deserted battlefield to see if we could find Private - see if he was wounded or dead or whatever.

"Then, out of nowhere, we heard a gunshot and Rico fell - apparently one of the herons wasn't dead and still had one bullet left. He didn't have enough strength to lift the gun, so he'd simply shot Rico's foot off. Kowalski helped Rico while I dealt with the heron. I still remember his dying words: 'I saw you four come onto the field that day-'" Sarah felt a shiver go down her spine as Skipper perfectly imitated the heron's voice, raspy and filled with a crazed, laughing tone. " 'I saw you four… I saw your short, pudgy friend get taken away… he was young, strong, healthy… make a good slave once he's broken, no?'"

"Slave!" Sarah gasped. "No - they can't-"

"And they won't, if we have anything to do about it." Skipper said confidently as he stitched Rico up. "They think they can break him like humans break horses - but I think they're wrong. He has you, and us - they'll have to do a lot before Private loses hope, he's stronger than he looks - but you know that."

Sarah smiled to herself, then said, "So, what now?"

"Kowalski said he can make a prosthetic for Rico while he's on the mend, and we'll need to get a game plan up. It won't be too hard to find him, that's not a problem-"

"Really?" Sarah said, surprised. "How?"

Skipper briefly pointed to his side, and to Rico's. "Years ago, when General officially made the four of us a team, we decided that each of us be given a GPS tracking device - easily implanted and works world-wide, but easily deactivated if one of us should wish to leave the team for some reason. You know, that's another reason I don't think Private will bend to their will - he knows we can find him. Anyway, the plan right now is to wait a few weeks -"

"Weeks?" Sarah gasped.

Skipper huffed - he didn't mean to be so harsh, but his nerves were shot and he was very exhausted.

"Look at Rico! That ain't gonna heal in a couple of days, Sarah! Any rescue mission would be completely pointless without _all _of what's left of my team!"

"But…" Sarah started to object, then stopped herself. She knew her father was right… but if only he knew…

Sarah knew this wasn't the time to tell him what was really up, and kept silent. But the truth was, Sarah needed Private now more than ever… she knew firsthand how horrible it was for a child to be born without a father.

* * *

Oh snap! :O

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	3. Chapter 3

Hey everyone! You would not believe how hard it was to write this chapter... and please please PLEASE pay attention to the second half, it's the introduction of a character that is very important to me (I'll tell you why later in the story)!

Enjoy!

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About a week earlier...

Private had never really understood the phrase, "in the heat of battle." Maybe it was just inexperience, because he'd only fought in small Antarctic skirmished before, that caused his confusion.

Not anymore. "In the heat of battle" made perfect sense now... the heat of the soldiers fighting all around him; the heat of the humid jungle they fought in; the heat of the warm, foreign ground, saturated with some sick combination of blood and mud that stuck to his feet… heck, his heart was beating so fast it could easily be causing friction from inside his chest.

He'd never been in anything like this before. It was difficult to focus on himself and not what was going on around him - even more difficult was trying, as Skipper had told him, to visualize that instead of a heron or a seagull it was only a bowling 'pin-ja' that stood before him - an unfeeling, lifeless object, easily overcome. Only problem with this theory is that the pin-jas weren't able to fight back like these enemies were.

Still, Skipper had taught him well - pin-ja after pin-ja fell to his power. He hated himself for just being able to do this at all - but he had to get home, Sarah was expecting him.

He saw a heron - ahem, a pin-ja - coming towards him. The herons were harder to beat than the seagulls - they had long, sharp beaks that could easily run a penguin right through (Private had seen more herons than he'd ever wanted to see with blood running all the way up to their face), and worse, this one still had a gun and was using it as much as possible. As he prepared to shoot, Private unexpectedly sprinted at him and wrestled it out of his wings, then - closing his eyes for a second - snapped the heron's neck. He cringed at the sound, and his eyes burned with tears that he quickly blinked away so as not to blur his vision.

Suddenly, the unmistakable sound of the penguin General's voice filled the sticky humid air. Private never thought the command he now heard would give him such joy as it did now:

"_Retreat! There's too many of them - troops, retreat!"_

Private heaved a sigh of relief - it was over, for now. All he had to do was get out of here and -

WHACK!

Something heavy hit him in the back of the head, and everything went black.

...

"Ooh..." Private groaned. He reached up and rubbing the back of his head. He felt as though Graveyard Eight itself had just run him over - his head throbbed with each beat of his heart, and his limbs felt stiff and wobbly all at once. He tried to sit up, but felt a pair of thin flippers gently push him back down.

"Whoa, there," a young, male voice said cautiously. "You'd better stay-"

"Ahh!" Private squealed. He shot up and backed away, immediately regretting the action.

" - or not." the voice said sardonically.

Private groaned again, seeing stars flying around his eyes, as result of the hit to the head. "Who-who're you?"

"Private Tanner Caincross, third class… sir?" The voice, Tanner, said.

"No, not 'sir'." Private said. "I'm Private too, but First Class."

"Got a name with that?"

"Yes, but usually people jus' call me Private."

"I see." Tanner said, not questioning anymore.

His vision became clear, and he observed his surroundings. He was in a room - cold damp, and ill-lit. One wall was made of closely-wrought iron bars. There were two small bunks - one of which he was lying on - with a thin, ratty blanket and a lumpy pillow. Hanging from the ceiling by a couple of thin wires was a weak light bulb, which gave off a dull, yellowish glow. Private looked at his new acquaintance, Tanner. He looked… young. Younger than himself - his eyes, spaced a bit further apart than most across his face, gave off the peculiar impression that he'd been forced to grow up too fast - the grayish-blue reminded Private of a candle that had been blown out before it had a chance to give off its light. Private briefly wondered how old he was… but that could wait. He had more pressing questions right now.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"No idea." Tanner replied. "I got here the same way you did - unconsciously. One of the guards told me it's some sort of prison for captive soldiers, so I assume we're still in Belize somewhere."

"Captive?" Private squeaked. "No - it can't be!"

"I know, that's what I thought-"

"No, you don't understand!" Private interrupted frantically. "I need to be home - Sarah! She needs me!"

"Who's Sarah?"

"My wife - I need to get back to her! She's got this delicate emotional balance, she needs me - I need her-" he stood up, ignoring the throbbing of his head, and shook the iron bars as hard as he could, causing a loud rattling noise. He repeated Sarah's name under his breath, as if her name had as much power over the bars as it had over his heart.

"Uh, dude, you don't want to do that!" Tanner said worriedly. "We want to _detract _attention from the guards, not the other way around!"

Private ignored him. Tanner noticed a light in the hallway becoming brighter, as if someone was coming. He quickly grabbed Private, wrenched him away from the bars and flung him to the other side of the room.

Tanner's fear had been correct. A heron guard stopped by their room.

"Is there a problem here?" he asked threateningly.

"No." Tanner said, shaking his head. "No, we're fine…ish."

"I should hope so." the guard said, raising an eyebrow and walking away.

Tanner sighed out of relief, then looked back at Private, angry. "I'm sorry, dude, but _get a grip!_ I have a family back home too, you know - everyone does! We just gotta deal with it until we get outta here, alright?"

Private nodded, unable to do much else. He sat down upon the cold, hard bed, resting his pained head in his flippers. He was exhausted and overwhelmed, and he again felt tears welling up in his eyes… still he knew he was better off than most. He had something to fight for, to live for: he had Sarah, he had his team, all those back home whom he loved and loved him too. Bleak as it was, he was still Private and was able to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

He wouldn't stop believing.

* * *

_Don't stop... BELIEVING_

_hold on to that FEEE-EEL-IN-IN-ING!_

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	4. Chapter 4

Hi everyone! This is a pretty short chapter, but please bear with me - it'll be better next time. Short as it is, though, it's still pretty important, so... yeah.

Enjoy!

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The weeks passed slowly for Sarah and Private. Sarah waited patiently (sort of) for Rico's leg to heal while Kowalski made a metal prosthetic for him, making a 'special' sort of metal that was lightweight enough that Rico's movement wouldn't be hindered but that would still have quite a 'kick' in combat. The downside was that it was an ugly color and quite noticeable (Kowalski's metal was made by melting together about a hundred soda cans and a small iron bar). Kowalski said he could paint it to look like a regular foot, but there was no time now and would rub off on the way back to Belize - but, as expected, Rico didn't care. In fact, keeping the same philosophy with which he regarded his scar, he was proud of his fake foot. He pointed out that if it wasn't him, it would have been Kowalski or Skipper who had taken the bullet instead - it was probably best this way, since (though everyone insisted otherwise, for his sake) no one depended on him like they did Kowalski or Skipper.

Still, the weeks did indeed pass. The day before Skipper, Kowalski, and Rico left, Sarah took aside her father and finally confided the news to him.

"What's up?" Skipper had said.

Sarah took a deep breath and spoke the words she'd been planning for days now. "Dad... you remember when Mom said she was so upset after you left?"

Skipper flinched. "Sarah, we've gone over this, I'm coming back-"

"Dad, hear me out, okay? This is important." Sarah interrupted.

Skipper stopped, then decided to play along. "All right - yes, I remember."

"Do you remember why she was so much more upset that she would normally have been?"

"Yeah, she was having you." Skipper said simply. Sarah, without even thinking, hugged herself around the middle, and Skipper understood. His eyes became wide. "Sarah - you're..."

"Yeah." she replied. She started to tear up - this was the first time she'd admitted it aloud (Katrina had figured it out herself a while ago, but hadn't made Sarah say it), and she was starting to realize just how scared she was.

"I need Private, Dad... I'm not strong like Mom was, I can't raise a kid by myself, I just can't!"

Skipper embraced her as she completely lost it. A sob escaped her throat, and another, and another, while Skipper tried his best to comfort her.

"Sarah, I'll do my best... I won't do to you what I did to Vanessa, I promise... uh..." he had to say something else, she was falling apart, but what came out of his beak wasn't exactly what he was going for. "You know, you definitely won't have to raise it alone, you've got Katrina, and Marlene, and us when we get back... you know, if-"

"Don't you DARE say it." Skipper noticed that even while crying her eyes out, Sarah managed to sound threatening.

"Alright, I won't." he said. Getting a better idea, he took Sarah by the shoulders and made her look into his eyes, like a child. "Sarah... I give you my word. I will do everything in my power to bring Private back to you. But he would want you to be strong... and so do I. Can you do that?" he said gently.

Sarah sniffed a little, then smiled weakly and nodded.

Skipper smiled and hugged her again. "That's my girl."

...

Meanwhile...

Private had finally come to accept that he was stuck here until someone came and got him out of here. Skipper had been right: the knowledge of the GPS chip gave him a certain hope no one else in the prison had - except for Tanner, whom Private knew Skipper would help bring home too.

Speaking of whom, Private quickly befriended his cellmate (not that they had much choice - they were forced to spend every waking and non-waking moment together) and was amazed at what Tanner told him one day.

"What is a kid like you doing in the army?" Private asked. "I know about the whole draft thing, because of the war, but you seem too young to be drafted."

Tanner froze. He stayed in his spot for a while, then opening his mouth, but no words came out. He quickly got up and poked his head out of the bars, checking that no one was listening in on them. Finally, he sat next to Private and whispered his secret.

"I _am _too young to be in the army. My older brother was the one that was drafted, but he's at the Antarctic College right now. Going to that school is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity - didn't you say your friend Kowalski went there after military school? Yeah? - well, my brother worked too hard to be snatched away before he had a chance to become great...I lied to the officials and said I was my brother - we look a lot alike - and joined up for him. You're the first person to call me 'Tanner' instead of 'Jordan' for months."

Private was shocked. "You... what? Tanner, how old are you?"

Tanner smiled sheepishly. "Fifteen... but my birthday's in a few weeks."

Private's mouth gaped open. So young... too young to have witnessed the gore and terror of war, to be away from his parents and forced to a place like this...

Suddenly, Private felt a surge of respect for the boy rise up in his heart, and he smiled to himself. Tanner would see his parents again - Skipper would never allow a hero to remain here.

* * *

I really like Tanner - like I've said earlier, he's very special to me... but I'll tell you why when the time is right.

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	5. Chapter 5

Yeah, I know, this chapter is mostly filler. I just want you guys to get to know Tanner a bit better, and plus I might not be updating for a few days because of the horrible, terrible, no-good, very bad semester tests. And then, of course, Christmas (if I really don't update before then - Merry Christmas everybody! Or Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa, or whatever-you-celebrate... oh, forget it, Merry Christmas!)

* * *

The living conditions at the prison were definitely not very good at all - not that Private had ever thought it would be a stay at the Plaza Hotel, or anything. Food came twice a day - a small pile of bony fish for both of them and some water to drink. Private and Tanner were rarely let out of their cells except for rounds of hard labor in the prison yard. These came two or three times a week, so it got pretty boring in the cell.

Tanner and Private got to know each other quite well, since talking was the only thing they could occupy themselves with. Private told Tanner everything there was to know (that wasn't classified) about his friends and family back at the HQ; Skipper, his role model; Kowalski, his mentor; Rico, his crazy friend; Sarah, his love; and also Katrina, little Rachel, Marlene, Maurice, Mort, Julien, every other animal in the zoo from Burt to Barry.

Tanner, in turn, spoke of his family and friends back in Antarctica; his parents Brent and Lisa; his sisters Maisey and Ally; his brother Jordan; and his best friends Ivan, Derek, and Max. He recounted stories of good times they'd had - playing tricks on their teachers, especially the evil Mrs. Stack; or playing basketball, which he boasted at being very good at.

One day, Private woke from a nap (along with talking, sleeping was a good way to pass the time) to find Tanner tying up his tiny, thin blanket into a big knot.

"What are you doing?" Private asked curiously.

"Trying to see if I can make it into a ball. Maybe I could practice free throws!" he said excitedly, happy to have found something to do.

"How would you do that?" Private said, gesturing towards the tiny room they were locked in.

Tanner pointed to the cell across the hall. "The bars are an equal distance apart - I could throw it over to the next cell, it would help my aiming too. The guy over there said that if I don't draw attention from the guards, he'd roll back the ball.

Private chuckled. The kid had more energy in him than Rico at a demolition site - well, maybe not THAT much energy - and a good head on his shoulders too.

"Can I help?" Private asked.

Tanner considered it, then said, "Not really, no. It's kind of a one-man job, y'know?"

"That's okay." Private said. He laid back down - there wasn't much else to do.

"Hey, Private?" Tanner said. "There was something I wanted to ask you about."

Private sat up. "Yes?"

"You've got a girl, right? Wasn't her name... oh yeah, Sarah?"

_Not exactly how I'd put it, but..._ "Yes."

"Well... you see... back home... there's this girl."

Private smiled. He could see where this was going.

Tanner continued. "Her name's Shayla. She's really pretty... she's got these big, bright eyes and a cute smile and the coolest laugh...she's way into music, she's a cheerleader and a really good hip-hop dancer... we've been friends forever, but I'd sorta like it to be more than that, y'know?"

Private nodded. "Yes, I understand."

"How do you think I should tell her? I don't want to lose her, and... you know?"

Private thought for a moment. He finally said, "I understand that, but if you really like her that much, she's going to figure it out sooner or later - girls have a way of doing that - or someone else will. Wouldn't you rather it was you telling her, rather than someone else?"

"Yeah..." Tanner said, then said more bravely, "Yeah! I'll do it - as soon as I get home, I'll tell her! If only..."

"What?" Private asked.

"If only I could get around Chris..."

"Who's Chris?"

"... her boyfriend." Tanner said with a sheepish grin.

Private gaped. _"Tanner!"_

Tanner said, "I know... maybe I should have mentioned that earlier…" he glanced at Private's shocked face and laughed.

His laughing quickly turned into a coughing fit. Private forgot the girl and ran to Tanner's side. He supported him as he bent over, coughing.

"Tanner, are you all right?" he said, concerned.

"Yeah...*cough*... I'm fine." Tanner, waving his flipper and sitting up. He cleared his throat and said, "It-it's nothing."

* * *

Okay, maybe that last bit was kind of important. Uh oh...

Don't worry - the next chapter (when I get it up) will be more substantial.

Review!


	6. Chapter 6

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't updated this story in a while - I had absolutely no idea where to go with this for the longest time, then I got preoccupied with my other story, and then while my computer was out I had a burst of inspiration and wrote a ton. This first chapter isn't very long, granted, but it sure is important to the story.

Oh, and as a little warning - this first bit is probably the closest I've ever come to an actual sex scene, but I tried to be the least explicit as I could while still getting the idea across... if you think it's bad or I should up the rating, just let me know!

Enjoy!

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"Private... Private... Private..."

_He was everywhere. He was all around her, on top of her, under her, inside of her... and she would never, ever have it any other way. She smiled as he gently, so gently kissed her neck... she could see that he was just as nervous and excited as she was, and how he was so afraid of hurting her, somehow... she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him, showing him that she was perfectly fine, more than fine. He seemed to get the picture, and responded by-_

"Sarah? It's about time to get up."

_Suddenly, he was slipping away... out of her arms and was flying away into a blurry, black sky above them. She fiercely protested, calling his name and reaching out to grab him back-_

"No... come back..."

"Sarah?"

_But further away he flew, no matter how had she tried to stay with him. And then... he was gone!_

"NOO-!"

"Sarah! Wake up!"

Sarah's eyes flew open. She felt damp, and a little lightheaded... she soon realized she was covered in sweat. She looked up.

"Katrina... yeah. Nightmare. Thanks for waking me up."

"You've been having those a lot lately." Katrina noted in a concerned tone. "Are you feeling okay?"

"As much as can be expected... sorry. It's probably just the egg." Sarah said. She struggled a bit, trying to get out of bed, then decided against it. It was Sunday, after all - the zoo was closed anyway. She knew the drill - Alice would be coming around soon, and drop off some food. Marlene would come over and make sure Rachel was out of the way while Katrina took care of Sarah. Sarah didn't need that much, really - it was just that, with the egg seriously restricting her movement, she needed someone to bring her food and water when she needed it. Sarah remembered the same thing going on while Katrina was expecting, except it was Kowalski running around with fish and bottles of water, even when she didn't need it.

The egg itself was getting quite large by now - Sarah privately was glad she couldn't get out of the HQ, she thought she looked like a penguin-pear - and everyone knew that it could drop like a bomb at any second. That was what really scared Sarah... she remembered the warm proud look in Kowalski's eyes after Katrina had delivered the egg, and she didn't want Private to miss out on that.

The morning passed as Sarah had expected it to, no changes. Everything was fine…

2:05 PM.

Sarah felt... weird. Like someone was pushing down on her whole body... it didn't hurt, exactly, but soon it was kind of hard to breathe.

"Katrina?" she said in a raspy tone that took her by surprise.

Katrina rushed to her side and asked what was wrong.

"I feel kind of funny-"

"- like someone's pressing a pillow down on you?"

Sarah blinked. "Yes, exactly. How did you-"

"It's the egg. It's ready." Katrina said with a smile.

Sarah, however, was not amused. "Ready? To be... out?"

"Uh-huh. That's how I felt when Rachel-"

"No! It can't be! Not already!"

"It's been over six weeks, Sarah."

"No! I won't - I can't! Private's not here yet!"

"You don't have a choice - Marlene, could you come here? - I mean, eggs don't usually try their best to keep to our schedules -"

"I can't! I wanted him to be here!" Sarah cried out.

Marlene looked to see what was up. She said uncertainly, "Uh - Katrina? What's that thing poking out-"

"Oh, god." Katrina muttered. She said urgently, "Sarah, you seriously have to do it, or it will really start hurting."

"But, but Private - AHH!" Sarah screeched as a stinging pain shot up her spine. "Katrina-"

"Sarah, listen to me! Push it out now, if you hold it too long it might crack, your muscles are too strong!"

"But-"

"It's not the chick yet, there's still two months before it hatches! Private _will_ be here in time! But, he wouldn't want you or the chick to get hurt because of him! DO IT!"

And so Sarah did. The pain was too much, she couldn't fight it anymore. She let go...

"I've got it!" Marlene said happily, checking it over. "It's good - no cracks or anything."

Katrina sighed in relief. "Good. Go put it in the incubation chamber and set the machine at the 'one' setting."

"Will do!"

Sarah heaved a deep breath as the pain quickly subsided. She opened her eyes, and saw Marlene carrying a round, creamy-white object. She was about to put it in the chamber...

The egg.

"Wait!" Sarah said, not even noticing she could sit up properly again. "Marlene, wait - I want to see it."

Marlene nodded and carefully put the egg in Sarah's outstretched arms. Sarah gently caressed the hard shell, and saw a drop of water drip onto its smooth, ivory-colored surface. She didn't even register that it was her own tear.

"It's gonna be okay," she whispered to the tiny being she knew was under the shell. "I don't know how, but it's gonna be okay... we'll pull through this together. Your daddy will be home soon enough, so let's make a deal, okay? You wait to come out until after your daddy comes home… and you'll have a somewhat sane mother to take care of you."

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:(

Here's some sort of reason to keep reading: in the next chapter, you'll get to find out why Tanner is such a special character!

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	7. Chapter 7

Ugh... I've been dreading this chapter. I seriously started crying while writing it... broke my heart.

Let's get this over with.

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Quiet. So quiet... Private had never experienced such pure, complete _silence_ in all his life - well, just another thing to chalk up to the list of firsts… his first real battle, his first mission without his team (surviving seemed like a mission in itself, nowadays)... the first time he'd lost someone close to him...

...

Tanner's cough hadn't let up for a week straight. Near the middle of that time, blood had started coming out with each racking cough… Private had tried so hard to help him, but Tanner wouldn't let him come within two feet of him, scared whatever he had was contagious and Private would catch it.

"Sarah needs you back, man." he'd said with a weak smile. "I don't want Skipper blaming ME if you get sick before you go back."

Yes, he'd always kept his sense of humor. Private's heart was almost literally ripped apart seeing Tanner this way - Private knew he needed medical attention, fast, but was afraid of notifying the heartless heron guards that a prisoner was sick.

Tanner was scared, too, though he tried not to show it. Even through his weak smile, it was all too easy to see the abysmal fear that plagued his mind. He didn't want to die - he wanted to go _home, _see his parents, listen to his brother yell at him for doing such a reckless thing as replace him in the army, hug his sisters, joke with his friends...

One morning, when Private woke up, he saw tanner still asleep in his bed near the opposite wall. Private was glad - the poor kid hadn't gotten any good sleep lately, the coughing fits woke him up too often...

However, after the guard came and brought their breakfast, Private figured Tanner should try and have something to eat.

"Tanner!" he hissed. "Time to eat!"

Nothing. _Chap must be zonked out,_ he thought.

"Tanner!" He repeated. He got up from his own bed and shook his cellmate a bit, to wake him up.

"Tanner... Tanner? TANNER! NO, NO, NO! TANNER!"

...

The breakfast guard had heard Private's screaming, and rushed in to see what the ruckus was all about. He called for some back-up, summoning three more guards. Two of them wrestled Private away to another cell - an 'uncontaminated' one - while the other two took away Tanner's body.

All that had been about a week ago - though his sadness-induced haze, Private dimly realized that Tanner's birthday would have been about this time...

"_Fifteen... but my birthday's actually in a couple of weeks..."_

After all of that, Private didn't even have anything to remember him by... the new cell and all, even the neighbors were different - he wasn't even sure if there were any neighbors! The silence encased him like a thick blanket, smothering him...

He jumped when he felt an odd sensation in his side - a vibration, almost like a muscle twitch. He looked down and felt the vibration again. He heart pounded - could it be? - as he parted aside a small patch of black feathers. Underneath the pinkish skin, a red light flashed in systematic blinks - not very brightly, just enough that you could only see it if you were looking for it.

Private's heart leapt as he smiled for the first time in two weeks - he knew exactly what that little light was! It was the GPA device implanted under his skin - the rest of the team was close by, searching for him with the tracker. In fact, they had to be within a ten-mile radius for the vibrations to go off.

Private almost laughed out loud - why it might only be a matter of days before he got out of here! But then, his smile faded. A matter of days.. Oh, why had it taken them so long? If Skipper had gotten here just one week earlier, maybe Tanner wouldn't have... wouldn't have...

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: On October 29th, 2010, a sophomore boy in my school named Tanner died in a car accident while driving home with some friends. We'd just had our Halloween costume contest that day, and it was a Friday, so spirits were high… the driver, another sophomore boy I will not name, got a call from his dad reminding him of something he was supposed to pick up but had forgotten... he didn't see the gravel truck behind him on the lonely highway when he'd tried to make a U-turn...

Real-life-Tanner, like the fictional-Tanner, was fifteen years old - two weeks away from his sixteenth birthday - when he died. There aren't very many people in my school - about 300, I'd say - so everyone knew who he was, how special a person he was, myself included... everyone had their own way of remembering and honoring him - this is mine.

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:(

Sorry this was such a short chapter, it was really hard for me to write this, but I thought it had to be done.

Review...


	8. Chapter 8

First off, thank you for all the special reviews concerning the author's note. I truly appreciate it, and to truly thank YOU, here's a much happier, longer chapter!

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This was it.

Skipper, Kowalski, and Rico had been planning for weeks now. All of them, but especially Skipper felt guilty for making Private wait this long, longer than they'd expected. Rico had slowed them down a bit (though the other two denied this so he didn't feel bad) since he was still getting used to his artificial leg. Then they'd run into the other penguin troops just outside Belize, about half its size since the battle, and Kowalski'd had the idea of convincing the General to help then in their quest.

"Private can't be the only one trapped in there," he'd reasoned. "There must be dozens of teams like ours missing members, mates that must be reunited, children without parents..."

Skipper had immediately agreed, seeing the sense and benefits of having an extra two thousand penguins on their side. The General, when presented with the idea, also agreed, and it had taken a few days to mobilize the troops.

Skipper's heart lifted when a rock hopper spy had reported that the prison wasn't too heavily guarded - there were only about a hundred guards at the prison. The herons, apparently, were mainly relying on the remote location to guard the prison, but Private's GPA chip literally led them right to the location. The General, also heartened by the spy's report, announced that they wouldn't be wasting any time - the attack was to be that very night, after the sun had fallen.

This night. Skipper looked around - Rico was swallowing up extra weapons and paper clips (to pick locks), and Kowalski had taken a break from a group strategizing session to make sure Rico's leg was attached nice and tight. The three of them had already agreed to go in together this time - no one would get left behind.

And by no one, they meant _no one._

...

Private was perplexed... since sundown, there had been no silence as usual. It was quiet, yes, but for the first time, he could hear things through the ventilation shaft to his cell. Shouts, mainly, the sound was too muffled and echoed to make out any real words... even so, it seemed to get gradually louder and louder. Soon, he could distinguish separate voices, though still no words - whatever was happening out there, it was getting closer.

At first, he worried and almost fell into a panic - what were the guards doing? They weren't… _cleaning out _or anything, were they? - when his habit of checking his GPA chip every five minutes came into action. He noticed that the light was a strong, steady red - his heart leapt for joy, he almost laughed; Skipper was here! Finally!

An extremely loud shout rang through the vents, making Private jump… wow, the team must really be kicking some butt...

He was able to catch a couple of actual words amid the cacophony of voices:

"Check that door over there!"

"Yes, sir!"

That second voice sounded familiar...

BOOM!

Private jumped again, this time with a shout... _that_ sound hadn't come from the vent... for the first time in days, he got up from the bed, poking his head out from the bars. A thought passed through his mind: _Huh. I guess I did have neighbors after all... _there were a dozen or so other penguins looking out their cells, too.

BOOM!

Private saw a door at the end of the hallway, locked shut - it rattled violently at the loud sound. Someone was trying to get in...

_BOOM!_

With that last blast, the door went flying right off it's hinges, shattering the lock and went crashing down the hallway. By instinct, Private flinched and jumped back a few feet to dodge it - before he realized that the bars would have protected him anyway. He bounded back to look out the cell again.

There was dust blowing about everywhere. He could make out three familiar silhouettes amid the dust, and an even more familiar voice shouting out:

"Alright - who wants to get outta here?"

The prisoners burst out in cheers (for many, the first sounds they'd made in a while). The figures emerged from the cloud and two of them began rapidly unlocking cells - one with a set of keys, one with a bent paper clip. The cheers grew louder and louder as, one by one, the prisoners were liberated and went dashing out of the hallway to their freedom. Private practically had to scream to make himself heard:

"SKIPPAH! KOWALSKI! RICO! LET ME OUT, I'M OVER HERE!"

Skipper's head snapped up, hearing the voice, and caught sight of Private's face. He grinned triumphantly and said something to Kowalski, who was working on the opposite wall of cells. Kowalski nodded and ran toward Private's cell - Rico coughed up another bent-up paper clip and continued picking the lock.

Private's eyes teared up at the sound he heard now - the one he'd only imagined these last seven weeks - the click of the lock opening for _him. _He bounded out of the cell, half afraid it would close back on him, and nearly tackled Kowalski in a hug. Kowalski carefully hugged him back - in his mind he was shocked at how much thinner Private was - if it wasn't for the perpetual penguin fat, his bones would probably stick out!) and then said to him, "Come on - let's get you out of here."

"Please" Private said with a hint of a smile. Private and Kowalski rejoined Rico and Skipper. Much to the dismay of the next prisoner, Skipper dropped his keys and embraced Private.

"You okay?" Skipper said in a thick voice.

"Yes, I'm fine." Private replied.

Skipper took him by the shoulders. God, he was so happy Private wasn't hurt - way too thin, yes, but a few Peanut Butter Winkies would take care of that.

"Hello!" the prisoner inside the cell beside them said impatiently. "I'm still here!"

"Oh, right." Skipper finished unlocking the cell, then turned back to Private. "There's plenty of back-up, they'll take care of the rest of them. Let's go home."

Private smiled, but then frowned again. "Yes, but... there's something I have to do first. Are there still any of the guards here?"

"Yeah, there's still a few running around." Skipper said, surprised. He looked behind Private and pointed. "There's one over there, now."

Private spun around. Indeed a heron guard was trying to catch the prisoners and fight off the penguins all at once. Private couldn't believe his eyes - it was the same guard that had called the others to take Tanner away… suddenly filled with rage, Private bolted towards the heron, ignoring Skipper's command to do stop. Private caught the guard by surprise and pinned him to the floor by the beak with one flipper and held his wings back with the other flipper.

"Take me to the prison morgue!" Private demanded, surprising even himself with this newfound confidence.

"There ain't a morgue," the heron barely managed to say, his beak stuck to the floor and all, "and if you're looking for your friend, he and a bunch of others are buried out behind the building."

Private, shocked, accidentally loosened his grip - the team came over and knocked out the heron before he could do anything more.

"Private, we've got to get out!" Skipper yelled - Private barely registered his words. "We've done our part, we're free to go!"

"But... Tanner..." Private mumbled.

"Huh?"

"He's gone... buried... I have to tell Jordan, and his parents... HE'S GONE, SKIPPAH!"

"I know, Private." Skipper said patiently. Kowalski and Rico had no idea what Private was babbling about, but Skipper could see all too well what had happened to him - he'd seen it before. "I know he's gone, but he wouldn't want you to stay here a minute longer! Now let's get out!"

Now sobbing, Private nodded and let Skipper lead him out of the prison - dodging the guards, the fighting, and other liberated prisoners - and out into the jungle.

...

Once the fight had died down, the team walked around the prison to the back entrance, seeing if they could find any sort of grave. They did - seventeen small blocks of upturned, black dirt, with a few weeds growing upward. Some kind-hearted guard had even had the decency to at least provide a stone at each head - some had names, some didn't. Private was crushed to see that the name he was looking for wasn't there - no one had been able to identify Tanner.

After that, he didn't speak for days, almost a week while they headed back home. They all worried about him, and while Kowalski and Rico tried to get him to speak up, Skipper knew not to push it too much. The kid would talk when he was ready to.

Six days into the journey home, Private finally was able to talk again. He told them about Tanner: how close they'd been, what a good kid he had been - so kind, so brave - and then about his tragic end. He told them that, the day after Tanner's death, he'd promised himself that he'd bring Tanner's body back to his family - his parents, the brother he'd saved the life of, and his sisters - but that wasn't possible anymore.

"The least I can do is go to Antarctica, find the Caincross family and tell them how brave Tanner was - how much he'd loved his family, and what he'd done for me." Private concluded.

Skipper stayed expressionless. He thought he'd seen it all - but to watch some fifteen-year-old kid die in a prison camp, and not to be able to do anything about it... it tore at his heartstrings just hearing it.

Kowalski and Rico glanced at each other worriedly. "Um, Private?" Kowalski said tentatively. "I don't think we can do that right now. _You_ definitely can't."

"But I promised-"

"You have other promises to consider." Skipper said, looking up with a smile. Finally -some good news… they hadn't told Private about what was going on at home yet, afraid a shock like that could send him off the deep end... "For instance, your promises to Sarah."

"What do you mean?" Private said, jumping up in a panic "What's wrong with her?"

"Nothing, nothing!" Skipper assured him. "She's perfectly fine, don't worry. But… let me put it this way first: there's certainly a nice little surprise waiting for you at home..."

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Hooray! Private's out!

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	9. Epilougue

About a month and a half later...

There was nothing more beautiful in this world than a penguin on the half-shell, Private decided subconsciously. He wasn't really sure what to think, at the moment, as a tiny pair of fresh, clear blue eyes looked up at him and held out miniscule flippers, asking to be held. Private complied immediately, lifting his chick away from the eggshell and into his arms. His chick... his own child!

About a second later, Private suddenly realized he was wrong - there was something more beautiful than what he'd just seen, and that was what he was seeing now - that same baby chick being held in Sarah's arms.

"Oh my god..." she said with a tear, realizing the same things as her mate. "He looks just like you, Private, it's like looking in a mirror..."

"He's got your beak, I'm pretty sure." Private commented, barely looking away from this miracle for a second to ask Kowalski, "It's a boy, right?"

"I think so." Kowalski said. He walked a bit closer and looked the chick over. "Yes, definitely male."

"What are you going to name him?" Katrina asked with Rachel close in her arms. Rachel was intrigued by what she saw, but somehow knew this was a special event and asked her curious questions quietly in her mother's ear.

Private looked Sarah in the eyes. They both knew what Private so desperately wanted to name him... she could see it now. She nodded - it was a good name, after all.

Private smiled, and tenderly kissed Sarah's cheek in thanks. Everything seemed perfect now - they'd gotten news that the prison break had officially marked the end of the Avian war... his son was born... Skipper and Kowalski had recently been able to hack into a computer at a local docking port for ships and booked a freighter to Antarctica, to leave a few months from now, when they were more equipped for the trip and the chick was more equipped for the cold.

Private looked upward, out the fishbowl entryway in the ceiling, out to the blue sky. He knew, somewhere up there, there was a guardian angel that would watch over him and his family, and the name of that angel was the _only _name fit for his son...

"Tanner. His name is Tanner."

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Well... there you go. How sweet :)

Acknowledgements:

GrandOldPenguin: I really do love all your reviews. They never fail to bring a smile to my face and a lift to my heart!

Everyone who left their condolences for Tanner... I hope the ending was good enough for you!

Everyone I'm forgetting and/or too tired to remember.

Review!


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